Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

244 reviews

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Grief, and Abandonment

loxeletters's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death and Suicide

orezevida's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Transcendent Kingdom is a heart wrenching and reflective exploration into themes of addiction, mental health and religion. Gifty’s journey with Christianity and subsequent deconstruction journey was extremely relatable and I loved how the nuance with which it was explored. Gyaasi’s writing is poetic without being overly flowery, and her ability to make me connect and feel each character’s emotions is masterful. And excellent read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, and Grief

lauriej's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Abandonment

maijaka's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, intriguing. There were a few moments I wanted a bit more or perhaps got a bit lost, but overall a gentle, determined, and honest storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Racism

vanesst's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Alcohol

chsm8's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Cursing, Death, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

readingwithgoose's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death

kerrence30's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Through flashbacks ranging throughout the life of the protagonist we learn how her various key relationships develop, how it affects her, and eventually, at present day, how they come to conclusion. This story shines a light on the experiences of a first generation family from Ghana moving to the USA, the strong influence and contrasts of religious worship from traditional upbringing to adulthood in Alabama, and dark topics such as addiction, depression and death. 
Concise and emotional, was great to listen to, well read, authentic, heartfelt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

hileahrious's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A story of the search for meaning. And that, I find, is what makes it feel so relatable, even though the protagonist’s life experiences are nothing like mine. The quest for purpose, especially with the dis/comfort of evangelical religion mixed in, keeps you hooked on what will happen next. But not in a suspenseful way…. simply, as a reader you also become eager to discover if there is refuge for the main character Gifty, because maybe, just maybe, that means you yourself will one day find it as well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief